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Three councillors urged the state government to sack Liverpool City Council, expressing rising dismay at the way decisions were being made after Liberal Mayor Ned Mannoun’s shock move to dump chief executive John Ajaka following an acrimonious falling-out between the pair last year.
Dr Betty Green, a Labor councillor, was among elected officials who, at the time, had called for an administrator to be appointed, telling Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig they “did not take this step lightly” but had grown “increasingly concerned” about “dysfunctional” decision-making processes, an inquiry has heard.
The inquiry is examining the conduct of Mayor Ned Mannoun, councillors and staff at the south-west Sydney council. Credit: Monique Westermann
“We have lost confidence that some members of the elected body are discharging their obligations to represent the collective interests of the residents, ratepayers and local community,” they wrote.
Councillor conduct at meetings and the use of mayoral minutes are among matters that have been thrust under the microscope of a long-running NSW Office of Local Government inquiry into alleged dysfunction and maladministration at the embattled council in Sydney’s south-western suburbs.
The inquiry has previously heard Ajaka, a former Liberal MP, was blindsided by the council’s decision to place him on leave during a closed session at a chaotic meeting in April last year, weeks after he admittedly told Mannoun to “shut the f--- up” in a meeting about budget and staffing matters.
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A mayoral minute to terminate Ajaka’s contract passed with Mannoun’s casting vote at a council meeting on May 29. Green, a Labor Party member, was first elected to the council, representing the south ward, in 2021.
Questioned by counsel assisting the commission, Trish McDonald, SC, on Thursday, Green recalled councillors were only made aware of the alleged justifications for terminating Ajaka’s contract the day of the May meeting.
“It gets a bit blurry because it was a very traumatic time. I think it would have been clear we were working towards termination [of Ajaka’s contract], but we didn’t know the reasons,” she said.
The inquiry heard Green had seconded a motion of dissent, which was moved by Labor councillor and Liverpool MP Charishma Kaliyanda but ultimately lost, condemning the mayor’s decision to use his casting vote, and noting a decision on Ajaka’s future should not be made until an external investigation into his conduct was completed.
“From our perspective, the mayor was party to the initial conflict between himself and Mr Ajaka, and therefore should not have used a casting vote for the motion to terminate to be successful.”
Dr Betty Green, a Labor councillor, gives evidence at the inquiry on Thursday.
In the letter to Hoenig, which was dated June 27 last year and was submitted to the inquiry, Green, Kaliyanda, and independent councillor Peter Harle had outlined their concerns at that time that Mannoun and other aligned councillors had been “voting as a binding caucus” and making decisions that breached their legal and ethical obligations.
The councillors noted the Office of Local Government, at Hoenig’s behest, had at that stage already begun investigating whether there had been a “breakdown in the council’s operations”.
“However, over the last three ordinary meetings of council, it has become increasingly clear that the decision-making processes of the elected council have broken down and are quite dysfunctional.”
The councillors requested Hoenig place the council into administration as they had “lost confidence in the capacity of the mayor and some councillors to make informed, independent and ethical decisions”, and no longer believed the elected body was “able to discharge its duties” under law.
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“The escalating events of the last three months leave us with no option but to ask that you take this action in the interests of the Liverpool community, and for the wellbeing of the thousands of staff of Liverpool Council who are at the mercy of dysfunctional decision-making.”
Referring to the decision to terminate Ajaka’s contract, the councillors had written: “We do not feel that community interest has been placed at the heart of this, nor the CEO afforded due process.”
Green also spoke of a council meeting in February last year, when she raised concerns about a lack of public consultation over the proposed sale of two lots of council land to Moorebank Sports Club, and recalled Mannoun’s response had made her feel “rather humiliated” and “schooled in the process”.
“It was quite uncomfortable. I did have comments from constituents and [council] directors who watched, asking ‘Are you OK?’, up to a week-and-a-half later,” Green told the inquiry.
Mannoun is yet to give evidence. The inquiry continues in front of Commissioner Ross Glover.
Public hearings for the inquiry began in July. The probe is also examining the council’s handling of finances, property purchases, staff employment, and $150 million in state government grants.
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